Carpet tile cutting machine

ABSTRACT

A CRADLE SUPPORTS A ROLL OF CARPET FOR THE PULLING THEREFROM OF THE END OF THE CARPET OVER HORIZONTAL WORK TABLES HAVING A FIRST SECTION IN WHICH THE CARPET IS CUT LONUGITUDINALLY IN STRIPS DURING MOVEMENT OF THE CARPET AND A SECOND SECTION IN WHICH THE CARPET IS CUT TRANSVERSELY WHILE STATIONARY TO FORM TILES, THE CUTTING TAKING PLACE FROM BENEATH THE CARPET AND ONLY THROUGH THE BACKING THEREOF AND NOT THROUGH THE PILE.

J. M. FEIGHERY ETAL 3,621,743

CARPET TILE CUTTING MACHINE Nov. 23, 1971 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 5;1970 www QTN omN E h a O mg A Mm X 56 Nov. 23, 1971 FElGHERY ETAL3,621,743

CARPET TILE CUTTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 5, 1970 INVENTORSJames MFc/yhe/"g Michael A. L e wa//g/7 ATTORNEY Nov. 23 A971 J. M.FEHGAHERY fi f CARPET TILE CUTTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 5.1970 Nmr. 23, 1971 J. M. FEIGHERY ETAL fi fl CARPET TILE CUTTING MACHINE5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 5. 1970 3 INVENTORS Jam 65 M Ffi/ghergM/c/ioe/ A. Lewd/yr? ATTORNEY Nov. 23, 1971 i J. FElGHERY ETAL 3,$21,743

CARPET TILE CUTTING MACHINE Filed May 5, 1970 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 gINVENTORS James/7. F dams/"y T L: Mia/Mdfiixwa/lyn ATTORNEY UnitedStates atent 3,621,743 CARPET TILE CUTTING MACHINE .Iarnes M. Feigheryand Michael A. Lewallyn, Dalton, Gan, assignors to Tex-Del Corporation,Dalton, Ga. Filed May 5, 1970, Ser. No. 34,773 Int. Cl. B26d 11/00 US.Cl. 83-403 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cradle supports a roll ofcarpet for the pulling therefrom of the end of the carpet overhorizontal Work tables having a first section in which the carpet is cutlongitudinally in strips during movement of the carpet and a secondsection in which the carpet is cut transversely while stationary to formtiles, the cutting taking place from beneath the carpet and only throughthe backing thereof and not through the pile.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The use of carpet tiles is becomingincreasingly popular. These tiles are usually cut from carpet throughthe top thereof, the cutting means passing through the pile and throughthe backing of the carpet. Since the pile usually leans in onedirection, the cutting of the tile from the top thereof cust one edgeperfectly squarely, severing some of the pile which leans towards suchedge. When a tile is laid, therefore, the edge referred to will show agap in the pile between it and the pile of. the next adjacent tile,which, of course, is objectionable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Carpet tiles are usually made with rubber orsimilar backs to which the pile is adhered on the top face thereof. withthe present construction, rotary cutters are arranged beneath the pathof carpet moving over end-to-end tables having coplanar tops, the firsttable having a series of transversely spaced rotary cutters or slittersarranged below the plane of the carpet. These cutters or slitters are soadjusted that as the carpet moves longitudinally over the table, therubber or similar backing is cut through precisely and no cutting of thepile takes place. The advancing carpet then passes to the second tablewhere its movement is arrested and a carriage carrying longitudinallyspaced transverse rotary slitters is moved transversely beneath thetable to slit through the backing only of the stationary carpet. Thiscarpet having been previously longitudinally slit, the transverseslitters will cut the strips of carpet to form separate accuratelysquare tiles. When the carriage for the transverse slitters reaches theopposite side of the table, its movement is arrested pending anadditional longitudinal movement of the carpet to a position for thenext transverse slitting operation, whereupon movement of the carpet isstopped and the carriage moves back beneath the table to the first sidethereof to again transversely slit the carpet into tiles.

A cradle supports the roll of carpet, and this cradle comprises rollersspaced apart and having endless bands or belts passing therearound andthe carpet roll is supported by such bands between the rollers. Theserollers are driven to rotate the carpet roll and feed the end thereof tothe first table to be gripped between rollers to be fed along the firsttable. Since rugs are never prefectly rolled, the cradle structure istransversely movable to keep the longitudinal edges of the carpetperfectly placed for the straight accurate cutting of the carpet.

The longitudinal slitters are arranged beneath the path of travel of thecarpet and beneath a transverse hold-down roll which engages the topface of the carpet to hold it in snug engagement with the longitudinalslitters so that the latter accurately cut through the carpet backing.These longitudinal slitters are carried by individual arms and driven bychains or other endless driving means. All of the arms for such slittersare simultaneously adjustable to maintain the accuracy of the cuttingoperation. Such simultaneous adjusting means includes elements for theindividual adjustment of the slitters in the event one or more of theslitters should wear faster than the others and require slight upwardadjustment.

The second table is provided with transverse supporting rollers overwhich the longitudinally slit carpet passes and each of these rollers ispositively driven together with upper hold-down rollers associatedindividually therewith. The transverse slitters are mounted on acarriage supported for movement transversely of the second table and theslitters operate between the rollers last referred to and the hold-downrollers associated therewith. The rollers of the second table have theirmovement arrested at the proper point for the accurate final cutting ofthe tiles. Between the lower rollers of the second table are arrangedplates over which the carpet passes and such plates have spaced edgesfor the movement therebetween of the transverse slitters. During thetransverse slitting operation, the stationary carpet is held down withrespect to the transverse slits by transverse bars of inverted U-shapeand these bars are urged downwardly by air cylinders which operate tolift the bars when the plurality of tiles has been cut to allow for thefree movement of the cut tiles to a take-off conveyor. The transverseslitters are also carried by arms adjustable in the same manner as thearms of the longitiudinal slitters so that the backing of the carpetwill always be accurately cut therethrough. The transverse slittercarriage is pulled back and forth across the table during each operationthereof by chains supported by the track structure along which thecarriage operates from side to side of the second table.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of theapparatus, parts being omitted;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the back side of the apparatus showing thedrive means therefor;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the apparatus partlyshowing the second table, some elements being omitted;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the front of the apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a transverse section on line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion of theapparatus shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section on line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a section on line 8-8 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a section on line 9-9 of FIG. 1, parts being omitted;

FIG. 10 is a section on line Ill-10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a detailed sectional perspective of a holddown bar;

FIG. 12 is a section on line 12-I2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 13 is an end elevation of the carpet roll supporting cradle partsbeing broken away.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1, 4, 12 and13, the numeral 10 designates a supporting cradle as a whole for a rollof carpet 12. This cradle comprises a pair of rollers 14 mounted onshaft 16 journalled in end plates 13 carried by beam frames 20. Thecarpet roll is supported by endless belts 21 passing around the rollers14. The beam frames carry angle irons 22 rotatably supporting spacedshafts 24 (FIG. 13) carrying grooved wheels 26 adapted to roll on rails28 carried by walls 30 of a supporting structure indicated as a Whole bythe numeral 32. This structure includes suitable bracing including atransverse structure 34 on which is mounted a motor 36 (FIG. 12), theshaft of which carries a worm 38 meshing with a wheel 40 on one of theshafts 24. The motor 36 is reversible to rotate its shaft 24 in eitherdirection to adjust the cradle transversely of the apparatus for apurpose to be described. Transverse movement of the cradle will berelatively slight, and the worm 38 is of suflicient length for itsintended purpose.

The main parts of the apparatus comprise a first table 42 and a secondtable 44. The table 42 rotatably supports upper and lower rollers 46 and48 adjacent the cradle 10 and between which the web 50 of the carpet isadapted to pass, the rollers 48 and the cradle rollers 14 beingpositively driven in a manner to be described. Beyond the rollers 46 and48, that is, remote from the cradle 10, the table 42 is provided with abed 52 extending from the roller 48 to another roller 54, and spacedendless belts 56 (FIG. 3) pass around the rollers 48 and 54 to feed thecarpet toward the right in FIGS. 1 and 4.

Adjacent the end of the table 42 remote from the cradle, a plurality oftransversely spaced rotary cutting blades 58 are arranged tolongitudinally slit the carpet passing thereover. Each of these bladesis individually supported by a shaft 60 journalled in a bearing 62carried by one end of an arm 64 (FIGS. 6 and 7), and the opposite endsof these arms receive therethrough a transverse shaft 66 which rotateswithin the latter ends of the arms 64. The shaft 66 is driven in amanner to be described and is provided with a plurality of sprockets 68each associated with one of the arms 64. A chain or flexible element 70passes around each sprocket 68 and around a sprocket 72 carried by theassociated shaft 60. It will be apparent therefore that the longitudinalslitters 58 are simultaneously driven by their chains 70 to slit thecarpet longitudinally as it passes over the blades, as further describedbelow.

Referring to FIG. 6, it will be noted that the carpet includes a rubberor similar backing 74 and a top pile 76, and the cutting edge of eachblade 58 extends exactly through the backing 74 during the cuttingoperation. Accordingly, the pile 76 is not disturbed during the cuttingoperation.

The slitters 58 are vertically adjustable by the means shown in FIG. 7.Each arm 64 is provided with a projection 78 having an opening 80threaded in the end thereof to receive a screw 82 having a head 84engaging the top flange of an angle iron 86 welded or otherwise securedto a lower angle iron 88 through which projects a screw 90. The angleiron 88 carries a nut 92 welded thereto and obviously the turning of thescrew 90 will elevate the angle iron 88 and the elements connectedthereto. A lower stationary angle iron 94 carries a conventional speedreducing gearing 92 operated by a shaft 94 having an operating wheel(not shown) whereby the turning of the shaft 94 will rotate the screw 90and lift the structure including the angle irons 86 and 88. Between theupper flange of the angle iron 86 and the arm 78 is arranged arelatively strong spring 96. Vertical movement of the angle irons 86 and88 moves all of the projections 78 to move the slitters upwardly as weartakes place. In the event one of these slitters Wears somewhat fasterthan another, the screw head 84 may be turned individually to adjust theassociated projection 78 to move the slitter 58 upwardly independentlyof the remaining slitters so that it will cut accurately just throughthe backing 74. The rug passing over the slitters 58 is supported bysmall transverse parallel rollers 98 rotatably supported at their endsby plates 100 which in turn are supported in any suitable manner by thetable 42.

Above the slitters 58 and rollers 98 is arranged a relatively largetransverse roller 192 extending from side to side of the apparatus andprovided with spaced grooves 104 coinciding with the planes of therespective slitters 58. These grooves are provided so that if anyslitters become substantially maladjusted, they will not bear againstthe body of the roller 102. The roller 102 is provided with a shaft 106journalled in pivoted plates 108 each of which is journalled at one endon a shaft 110, further referred to below. The plates 108 extend to theside of the roller 102 opposite the shaft 110 to support a tie bar 112to fix the plates 108 in position. The plates 108 provide for upward anddownward movement of the roller 102 according to whether the carpet ispassing thereunder, and to adjust the roller 102 to varying thicknessesof carpet.

For the accurate straight cutting of the rugs by the slitters 58, it isimportant that the rug be accurately fed to the slitters 58. It is forthis reason that the cradle 10 is movable laterally of the machine bythe means described above. At the side of the roller 46 opposite thecradle, the bed 52 carries a pair of sensors 113. These devices senseany deviation of the carpet incident to the uneven rolling of the rug onthe cradle, which is inevitable. In actual practice the sensors 113 aremicroswitches, the operation of either of which will energize the motor36 (FIG. 9) to shift the cradle. The specific means operable by thesensors 113 form no part per se of the present invention. For thepurposes of the present application, the elements 113 may be consideredto be indicators to the operator who may control the motor 36 manually.

It will be apparent that the rug fed to the table 44 will have been slitlongitudinally along parallel lines and from FIG. 5 it will be apparentthat the rug backing 74 will be trimmed along itsedges so that theseedges and the slits formed by the remaining slitters 58 will beperfectly parallel. Incidentally, it will be noted in FIG. 5 that fivestrips of carpet will be cut, but this is merely illustrative. Inpractice, 13 of the slitters 58 are employed to cut twelve strips, thusincreasing the rate of production of the machine and producing the tilesmore economically.

Referring to FIG. 8, it will be noted that the carpet is supported onthe beds of small rollers 98 and these rollers project into the inletend of the second table 44 to a point just preceding the first of aseries of lower rollers 114. Ahead of the rollers 98 the rug will besupported by a plate 115 (FIGS. 7 and 8) as the rug passes from theroller 54. The advancing longitudinally slit rug pro ceeds over therollers 114 and beneath corresponding upper rollers directly thereaboveindicated at 116. The

rug will be pinched between these pairs of rollers to be positively fedacross the second table. Between the pairs of rollers 114 and engagingthe bottom of the rug is a plurality of horizontal plates 118 and theadjacent edges of each pair of these plates, between each adjacent pairof rollers, is turned downwardly as at 120 to form a flange, theadjacent flanges being spaced to form slits 122 (FIGS. 3 and 8)extending from side to side of the table for the passage therebetween oftransverse slitters 124 further referred to below. The plates 118 andtheir flanges 120 are fixed to the side frames 126 of the second table44. Two of the plates 118 are arranged beyond the last set of slits 124as shown in FIG. 8, adjacent a roller 128, similar to the rollers 114except that it forms a pulley for belts 130, the opposite ends of whichpass around a roller 132 (FIG. 1) at the outlet end of the table. Theupper runs of these belts pass over a bed 134 and constitute a conveyorfor carrying to the discharge end of the second table 44 the finishedtiles as cut in the manner to be described and as indicated by thenumeral 136 in FIG. 1. Usually the slitters 124 will be spaced apart thesame distance as the slitters 58 to provide square tiles. The slitters124 as in the previous case out only through the rug backing 74,

Each roller 114 is mounted on a fixed axis, as described below, andjournalled in the side walls 126 of the second table. The rollers 116are mounted for vertical movement to drop down between gaps in thecarpet when the tiles are moved off in the manner to be described and toaccommodate rugs of different thicknesses. To this end, each roller 116has its shaft 138 journalled at its ends in arms 140 (FIGS. 3 and 8) andthese arms are pivoted on transverse shafts 142 journalled at their endsin the side walls 126 of the second table, except that the first set ofarms 140 is journalled on the shaft 110, previously described.

Each lower roller 114 is mounted on a shaft 144 journalled in the sidewalls of the second table 216, and at one side of such table (FIG. 2)each shaft 144 is provided with a sprocket 146 (FIG. 2). The conveyorroller 128 is also mounted on a similar shaft 148 provided adjacent thesame side of the table with a sprocket 150*.

Obviously, one of the rollers 116 and its associated arms 140 arearranged over the conveyor roller 128 and is also provided with atransverse shaft 142 as described. These shafts extend entirely acrossthe machine as shown in FIG. 3 and are journalled in the side walls 126.In the common plane of the sprockets 146 and 150, each shaft 142 isprovided with a sprocket 152 and these sprockets are arranged above thesprockets just described and in staggered relation thereto.

Beyond the opposite ends of the series of upper sprockets 152,, shafts154 and 156 are journalled with respect to the adjacent side wall of thesecond table and respectively carry sprockets 158 and 160.

Referring to FIG. 2, a chain 162 passes beneath the sprocket 150,upwardly over the next adjacent sprocket 152, thence down around theadjacent sprocket 146. This chain passes back and forth around the lowerand upper sprockets and from the sprocket 152 to the right in FIG. 2,the chain passes around the sprocket 158, thence to the left aroundsprocket 160 and downwardly around the sprocket 150 as previouslydescribed. Thus a single chain drives all of the operating sprockets forthe rollers except the first rollers 114 and 116, which are driven asdescribed below.

Inwardly of the side wall 126 adjacent which the outer sprocketspreviously described are arranged, each upper roller 116 has its shaft138 provided with a sprocket 164, and a chain 166 passes around eachsuch sprocket and around a sprocket 168 carried by the adjacent end ofthe adjacent shaft 142 and by the shaft 110. Thus it will be apparentthat all of the outside sprockets except as noted below are driven bythe chain 162 and these chains directly drive the lower shafts 144 ofthe lower rollers 114. The upper rollers 116 are driven by the chains166 from the sprockets 168.

Referring to FIG. 2 the numeral 170 designates a motor-speed reductionunit carrying a sprocket 172 mounted on a drive shaft 174. A chain 176passes around sprocket 172 and around a sprocket 178 on the adjacentshaft 148 the chain passing around a suitably mounted idler sprocket180. Thus the motor unit 170 drives the adjacent shaft 148 to transmitpower to all of the rollers of the second table except the first rollers114 and 116.

The shaft 66 previously described (FIGS. 2 and 7) is provided at one endwith a sprocket 182 driven by a chain 184. This sprocket passes partlyaround a sprocket 186 (FIG. 2) on the adjacent shaft 144 of theassociated roller 114, thence around an idler sprocket 188, thenceupwardly around a sprocket 190 on the shaft 110.

The shaft 144 just referred to, that is, at the entrance end of thesecond table, is provided with a sprocket 192 (FIG. 1) about whichpasses a chain 194, and this chain passes over an idler sprocket 196,,thence around a sprocket 198 on the output shaft of a motor-speedreducer unit 200. It will be apparent that the driving of the chain 194drives the associated shaft 144 and its sprocket 186, thus driving theshaft 66 (FIGS. 2 and 7). The chain 194 which drives the sprocket 192also drives the sprocket 190 on the shaft 110. The driving of the shaft66 (FIG. 7) through chains 70 drives the individual slitters 58 to slitthe backing of a rug passing thereover. The driving 6 of the shaft 116transmits power through a chain 204 (FIG. 1) to drive the shaft 106 andthus drive the grooved roller 102. This roller effects movement of therug over the slitters 58 to feed the rug over the second table.

It should be borne in mind that the last three sets of rollers 114 and116 (FIG. 8) are driven by the chain 162 (FIG. 2) while the firstrollers 114 and 116 at the entrance end of the second table, that is,the left hand rollers 114 and 116 of FIG. 8 are driven through the chain184. In this connection (FIG. 1) it will be noted that the drive fromthe shaft 111] is transmitted through a chain 206 to drive the firstupper roller 116. The purpose of these separate drives for the sets ofrollers 114 and 116 will be referred to below.

The rollers 14 and 16 of the cradle 10 and the rollers 48 and 54 for theconveyor belts 58 may be driven in any suitable manner. In FIG. 2 amotor-speed reducer 210 is provided with sprockets 212 driving chains214 and 216 passing around sprockets on the ends of the shafts 218 and220 of the rollers 54 and 48. A similar motor-speed reducer 222 driveschains 224 passing around sprockets 226 on the shafts 16 of the cradlerollers. The motor units 200, 216 and 222 will be synchronized so thatthe peripheral speeds of the rollers driven thereby in engagement withthe rug will be uniform.

Means are provided for driving the transverse slitters 124 and formoving them bodily beneath the second table 44 to slit the rug backingafter the rug has been slit 1ongitudinally and remains stationary.Referring particularly to FIGS. 4, 8 and 9, the numeral 230 designates apair of spaced parallel rail or guide members projecting transversely ofthe second table 44 therebeneath. The rails 230 may be supported in anysuitable manner, for example, by brackets 232 (FIG. 4) secured to legsof the second table 44. A carriage indicated as a whole by the numeral234 is mounted between the rails 230. This carriage comprises end plates236 each arranged adjacent and inwardly of one of the rails 238 andprovided at their right hand ends, as viewed in FIG. 9, with upstandingportions 238 having bearing means for supporting a drive shaft 240. Theplates 236 have bracing frame members including braces 242 and 243 fromthe latter of which supporting arms 244 extend upwardly to providebearings for the shaft 246 spaced from each other and from the endplates 236. The shaft 240 has a sprocket 246 around which passes a chain248 and this chain in turn passes around a sprocket 250 driven by theshaft of a motor 252 supported on a plate 254 supported by the members242.

The shaft 240 is provided with a plurality of sprockets 256 around eachof Which passes a chain 258. Four of the slitters 124 are employed inthe illustrated embodiment of the invention, and one of the chains 258drives each of these slitters. Each slitter is carried by an arm 2160pivoted at one end on the shaft 240 and provided at its other end with ashaft 262 carrying a sprocket 264 around which the associated chain 258passes. Thus, all of the slit ters 124 will be driven from the shaft240. Each arm 260 is provided with an extension 265 connected toadjusting means which may be identical with the adjusting means for theslitters 58 (FIG. 7) and the parts are indicated by the same referencenumerals. The shaft 94 in FIG. 9 is provided with an operating handwheel 267 and a similar wheel will be mounted on the shaft 94 in FIG. 7.

As the slitters 124 are rotated, the carriage 234 is moved transverselyof the second table 44 to slit only through the backing 74 of thecarpet. Rollers 266 are carried by the end plates 236 and engage theupper and lower edges of the rails 238 to guide the carriage 234 for itstransverse movement referred to. At the right hand ends of the rails230, as viewed in FIG. 9, a transverse shaft 268 is rotatably supportedand carries sprockets 2'78 around which pass chains 272, each connectedat one end as at 274 to one end of the adjacent end plates 236.

At their other ends, the rails 230 support opposite ends of a rotaryshaft 276 carrying sprockets 278 in the planes of the respectivesprockets 270. The chains 272 pass around the respective sprockets 278and are connected at 280 to the left hand ends of the end plates 236 asviewed in FIG. 6.

A suitabl mounted motor 281 is connected by a chain drive 282 to drivethe shaft 276 and sprockets 278. The motor 281 is reversible androtation of its shaft in one direction pulls the lower run of the chains72 to move the carriage 274 to the right in FIG. 9. Reverse rotation ofthe motor 281 pulls the upper run of the chains 272 to transmit force tothe connections 280 to move the carriage 234 to the left.

Since the slitters 124 must move entirely across the second table 44,lower portions of opposite sides thereof are cut away as at 284 toprovide clearance for the slitters 124 in passing beneath the secondtable.

As previously stated, the transverse slitters 124 move transversely ofthe apparatus between the spaced ends of the plates 118 (FIG. 8) thatis, through the slits 122 to slit only through the rug backing 74. Thisoperation takes place with the rug remaining stationary after havingpassed through the longitudinal slitters 58. While the rug thus remainsstationary, it is desirable to hold it positively in engagement with theplates 118 so that the rug will not flex upwardly as the slitters 124operate across the machine. To this end, a transverse bar 286 ofinverted U- shaped cross section, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 11, is adaptedto engage the pile 76 to hold the rug down over the path of each of theslitters 124. These bars 286 are carried by the lower piston rods 290 ofair cylinders 292 (FIGS. 3 and 8) and these air cylinders in turn aresupported by transverse bars 294 supported by the sides 126 of thesecond table 44. Three of the four bars 286 have been shown in solidlines in FIG. 3 together with their air cylinders and supporting bars294. The fourth assembly of these units has been shown in dotted linesin FIG. 3 to disclose more clearly one of the slits 122 extendingentirely across the table.

OPERATION The rug roll to be cut into tiles is supported on the belts 21of the cradle 10, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4. The free end of the rugis pulled out and fed beneath the roller 46. Rotation of the cradlerollers 14 and the conveyor rollers 48 and 54 by the means describedabove feed the rug toward the right in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. The roller 102is positively driven as the rug passes over the longitudinal slitters 58to slit solely through the backing of the rug 74 without disturbing thepile. This cutting is usually done from the top of the rug with theresult that the pile will be cut straight down through that edge of thetile toward which the pile leans, thus leaving a gap between such edgeof that tile and the edge of the next adjacent tile when the tiles arelaid. By cutting solely through the backing 74, this disadvantage iswholly eliminated and the nature of the machine is such that itsproduction rate is relatively rapid.

As previously stated, the sensors 113 in practice operate microswitchesto control the direction of rotation of the shaft of the motor 36 toshift the rug roll to compensate for inaccuracies in the rolling of therug. For the purpose of the present invention, as disclosed, it may beassumed that the motor 36 is manually controlled in accordance withindications of edge irregularities in the rug as provided by the sensors113.

After the rug has been longitudinally slit, the forward end thereoffeeds between successive pairs of rollers 114 and 116 (FIG. 8) and inpractice an electric eye associated with a light sensitive element willcontrol the rate of movement of the rug by slowing it down and thenstopping it at the proper place for the operation of the transverseslitters. For the purpose of the present application, as disclosed andclaimed, it may be assumed that the motors are all manually arrestedwith the leading edge of the rug at the proper point. The motor 252(FIG. 9 and 10) is operated to drive the transverse slitters 124 and themotor 281 is energized to move the carriage 234 to the left in FIG. 9until the slitters 124 clear the opposite side of the second table 44.The motor 281 is then stopped, and the slitters 124 remain at the leftside of the table 44 until the next transverse slitting operation is tobe performed. When the carriage 234 has been moved across the table 44as described, the rug will be out completely thereacross to provide theindividual tiles 136 (FIG. 1).

The motor 170 is then operated to drive all of the rollers 114 and 116except the first set at the left in FIG. 8, whereupon the severed tileswill be fed from the machine to the conveyor belts to be collected asdesired. With the motor still running, the motors 200, 210' and 222 willagain be started to feed the rug to the right in FIG. 8. The first setof rollers 114 and 116 will now be again operated together with theremaining such rollers, and the longitudinally slit rug will again befed to the proper point for the transverse slitting of the rug to formthe individual tiles.

While the feed rollers 114 and 116, except for the first set of suchrollers, are operating to move the rug, the air cylinders 292 will beenergized to lift the bars 286 from the rug to allow the latter to movefreely. When movement of the rug is arrested, air pressure in the aircylinders 292 is reversed to exert a downward force on the bars 286 tohold the longitudinally slit portions of the rug firmly in position onthe plates 218 for the transverse slitting of the rug.

In the commercial machine all of the foregoing operations areautomatically coordinated to take place in proper relative timedrelation. The automatic system forms per se no part of the presentinvention and it is assumed that all of the various operations aremanually controlled.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present apparatus ishighly practicable for the cutting of carpet tiles which have becomevery popular. The machine is efiicient and rapid in its operation withthe longitudinal and transverse slitting taking place sequentially andrapidly and the cutting operation takes place solely through the backing74 of the rug without disturbing the pile. It will be understood, ofcourse, that it is not necessary after one transverse slitting operationto return the carriage 234 to the position shown in FIG. 9. After oneslitting operation, the slitters 124 remain to the left of the table 44and when the next transverse slitting operation is to take place, themotor 281 is reversed to move the carriage 234 back to its positionshown in FIG. 9. The longitudinal slitting operation takes placecontinuously while the rug is moving, and each transverse slittingoperation is performed while the rug remains stationary for a very shortperiod of time.

We claim: 7

1. Apparatus for cutting tiles from rugs having a backing and a pile onthe top thereof, comprising means for moving the leading edge of the rugover a horizontal plane, means beneath said plane for slitting the rugalong parallel lines horizontally thereof and upwardly from the bottomof the rug solely through the backing thereof, and means beyond saidslitting means arranged below the level of the rug and movabletransversely thereof while the rug remains stationary for slittingsolely through the backing of the rug to separate the longitudinallyslit rug into tile units.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said horizontal plane is atable top, said slitters comprising rotary blades transversely spacedfrom each other across the width of said table top, and means forsimultaneously driving said rotary blades.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said means for transverselyslitting the rug comprises a carriage, means for mounting said carriagefor transverse movement beneath said rug, said means for transverselyslitting the rug comprising a plurality of rotary cutting blades 9mounted on said carriage, and means for simultaneously rotating saidcutting blades.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said horizontal plane is atable top, said slitters comprising rotary blades transversely spacedfrom each other across the width of said table top, means forsimultaneously driving said rotary blades, said means for cutting therug transversely thereof comprising a carriage beneath the level of saidplane, means for mounting said carriage for movement transversely of therug, said means for transversely cutting the rug comprising a pluralityof rotary cutting blades, and means mounted on said carriage forsimultaneously driving said last-named blades.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein each 01 said rotary blades forlongitudinally slitting the backing of the rug is provided with an armrotatably supporting the associated blade at one end of such arms, adriven shaft rotatably supported and on which the other ends of saidarms are pivoted, means for driving said shaft, and means connectedbetween said shaft and each blade for driving the latter.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 provided with means associated withthe first-named ends of said blades for simultaneously adjusting themvertically to compensate for wear on the peripheral cutting edgeprovided on each blade.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said simultaneous adjustingmeans includes auxiliary adjusting means associated with each arm toindividually adjust any blade vertically to compensate for differencesin the wearing of the blades.

8. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said means for transverselycutting the rug comprises a carriage, guide rails for said carriageextending transversely with respect to the rug for guiding said carriagefor movement whereby when said carriage is moved, the rug will be cuttransversely through the backing thereof, a driven shaft rotatablysupported by said carriage, a plurality of arms each rotatablysupporting one of said blades adjacent one end of such arm, a motorsupported by said carriage and connected to drive said shaft, and drivemeans connected between said shaft and each of said blades forsimultaneously rotating said blades during rotation of said shaft.

9. Apparatus in accordance with claim 8 wherein said guide rails arestationary, sprockets carried by opposite ends of said guide rails,chains passing around said sprockets and having ends connected toopposite ends of said carriage, and means for driving said sprockets tomove said carriage transversely to cut through the rug backing.

'10. Apparatus according to claim 9 provided with means connectedbetween said carriage and all of said arms for simultaneously adjustingthe latter to vertically adjust said blades to compensate for wear, saidsimultaneous adjusting means including elements associated with each armfor individually adjusting the latter whereby any blade can beindividually vertically adjusted to compensate for uneven Wear of saidblades.

11. Apparatus for cutting tiles from a rug having a backing and pile onthe top thereof, comprising a first table and a second table havingcoplanar surfaces, means for supporting a rug roll with respect to saidfirst table, means for feeding the rug from the roll longitudinally onsaid first table, means for slitting the rug along parallel lines as itpasses over said first table, pinch rolls associated with said secondtable for moving a rug thereover and for arresting a rug at apredetermined point, and means operative while movement of the rug isarrested on said second table for slitting the rug transversely to formtiles, the slitting means for both tables being arranged beneath thetops thereof and adapted to cut solely through said backing of the rug.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein said slitting means for bothtables comprises rotary cutting blad s, and means associated with eachtable for driving the blades thereof.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 wherein said second table isprovided with a carriage mounted for transverse movement beneath saidsecond table, the slitting means for said second table being supportedby said carriage, and means carried by said carriage for driving theslitting means supported thereby.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13 wherein said pinch rolls are inpairs one above the other and between which the rug passes, and platessupporting the rugs between said pairs of rolls and provided with slitsfrom side to side of said second table through which the cutting bladesof said second table move when said carriage is moved transversely ofsaid second table.

15. Apparatus according to claim 13 wherein the means for moving the rugover said first table includes the first pair of said pinch rolls, andpower means for rotating the remaining pairs of said rolls independentlyof said first pa1r.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 663,321 9/1899 Kitchen 83-408807,413 12/1905 Baker 83-40 8 1,168,130 1/1916 Waldron 83-408 X1,818,058 8/1931 Friedman 83-422 X 2,295,971 9/1942 Savidge 83-408 XFRANK T. YOST, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

